Lauren States

Lauren C. States is a vice president for technical sales and customer deployment in IBM Software Group. She leads the strategy for technical sales support and deployment across IBM?s $13 billion software business, and manages its 3,500-member field technical sales support team. Lauren also developed the highly successful management system that assures customer success in deploying IBM middleware throughout global enterprises.

Customer service just isn't what it used to be. I'm not saying it has gone
away; most businesses still care about their customers, of course. But it has
changed.
Years ago, retailers had fewer customers and knew them personally. They knew
what they were inclined to buy because they had been doing business with them
for years. Today, retailers and their customers have a huge range of choices
in almost every product category, from detergent to athletic shoes. Chain
stores and the Internet have made customer relationships less personal while
making product preferences more fleeting and the means to purchase more
crowded.
Insurance companies could specialize in certain types of coverage, or build a
customer set based on a given location. Today, highly volatile industry
conditions mean insurers can't rely on a single product or process. They need
to look at their busin... (more)